“These cuts mean that more strain will be put upon the officers and staff that remain.

“UNISON has put the protection of jobs and services as its number one priority and will be working with the force to identify where redundancies can be minimised and the service to the public maintained, however, it is difficult to see how the service will not suffer with such a large number of staff cut from the establishment.”

Under the proposals, the force is also considering restructuring from three areas to two.

At the moment the force’s South area covers the districts of Blaby, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth and Oadby and Wigston. Its North area covers Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton and Rutland.

The Central area covers Leicester.

It believes it can make savings by splitting the force into two areas – Leicestershire and the city of Leicester. Temporary chief constable, Chris Garnham, who is leading the Delivering The Changes programme said: “We face some difficult financial challenges in the forthcoming months and we are looking at a number of ways to address these, which includes re-shaping the force to deliver a more cost effective and efficient service.

“It is essential that we maintain front-line services, where possible, but this unfortunately comes at a cost and ultimately some police staff will face redundancy.

“Whilst clearly this is not our preferred option, we are consulting with trade union representatives and are doing everything possible to reduce the number of potential redundancies.”

The redundancy process will not affect police officers or community support officers.